Chapter 5 - Shadows in the Nursery
The master suite on the second floor of the Moretti mansion had been converted into a temporary sanctuary. For three days, Ethan refused to leave the estate, running his entire criminal and corporate empire via encrypted satellite links from the adjoining study while keeping a constant, watchful eye on Grace.
She had reluctantly accepted the larger rooms, but she refused to wear the expensive silk dresses Ethan’s accounts tried to order for her, sticking instead to soft cotton sweaters and loose trousers.
On a rainy Thursday afternoon, Ethan was downstairs meeting with the estate physician who had been brought in to monitor Grace’s pregnancy.
In the nursery—a room that had remained sealed and dusty for decades, which Ethan had ordered completely renovated overnight—Grace stood by the window, watching the rain beat against the heavy glass.
The door clicked open softly.
Grace turned, expecting to see Ethan or one of the household maids bringing up fresh linens. Instead, Vivian Moretti stepped into the room.
The matriarch closed the heavy oak door behind her with a quiet, deliberate click. She looked around the sunlit, pastel-colored nursery with an expression of cold detachment.
“It’s a lovely room,” Vivian said smoothly, walking over to inspect a handcrafted wooden crib. “Ethan spent half a million dollars redecorating it in forty-eight hours. He always was an extremist when he wanted something.”
Grace stood her ground, resting a protective hand over her belly. “If you came here to lecture me again, Mrs. Moretti, save your breath. I’m not listening.”
Vivian turned her cool, blue-gray eyes onto Grace. There was no anger in her voice now—only a chilling, pragmatic calculation. “I didn't come to lecture you, child. I came to give you some advice. A warning, if you prefer.”
“I don't need your warnings.”
“You do,” Vivian countered softly, taking a step closer. “You think because Ethan brought you back here like a prized trophy that you’ve won. You think you’re safe inside these walls. But you don't understand the men your husband deals with. You don't understand the enemies who are currently circling this estate like wolves smelling blood in the water.”
Grace’s heart hammered against her ribs, but she refused to show weakness. “If there are enemies, Ethan will handle them.”
“Ethan is blind,” Vivian hissed, her composure slipping for a fraction of a second to reveal raw, maternal panic. “He cares for you too much. And in our world, love is a weapon that gets people killed. If you truly care about that child inside you—if you want to see it grow up past its first birthday—you will take the passport and the bearer bonds I’ve placed in the envelope on that desk, and you will leave before midnight.”
Grace stared at the thick manila envelope resting on the mahogany side table.
May you like
“You want me to run away again?” Grace whispered in disbelief.
“I want you to survive,” Vivian said fiercely. “Because if you stay, you aren't just putting your own life at risk—you are handing Ethan’s enemies the only leverage they need to destroy him completely.”
